Still holding out for the next edition?
My last posting was focused on our Fall Festival Farmers’
Market, and now we’re closing in on the Holiday Market. Time really does fly.
Since mid-November:
u 1. Our house, dubbed ‘Casa Banana,’ has acquired 6
chickens, with several more on the way.
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2. We spent a community Thanksgiving together with
members from Tucson, Cascabel, and Benson, AZ at Sleeping Frog Farms. Beautiful
scenery, glorious sunshine, an outdoor feast complete with purple mash
potatoes, native foods, vegan deserts, and micro green smoothies. Unorthodox
and completely perfect.
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3. Planted our garden in the backyard: broccoli,
greens, carrots, and beans.
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4. I am dancing, dancing, dancing
The first weekend of December we went to the Cascabel to
help set up and facilitate their annual Christmas Fair. We arrived on Thursday,
set up our camp, and got to work. That evening was full of laughter and story sharing
as we sat in our hosts living room playing a ‘get to know you’ style game. As
housemates we have become comfortable with one another. We can joke and laugh,
we understand living styles, eating habits, morning rituals, but it isn’t until
we are posed certain digging questions that we really reveal our inner selves.
The game was a nice way to hear the perspectives and backgrounds of the people
I am surrounded by each day.
Friday morning we started bright and early, clearing out
spaces for vendors, unloading chairs, tables, and becoming reacquainted with
people in the community. Ellison lives in Cascabel full time, and we are not
able to visit too often. Seeing him interact with his community members was a
wonderful experience.
On Saturday and Sunday I helped man the Cascabel
Conservation Association Bake Sale table. I was working with two community
members who quickly became some of my favorite people at the fair. At the time
I didn’t understand why I was receiving so much affirmation, and even praise,
for helping set up the bake sale. All I did was set out food on plates, make
signs, and move things around. I was conversational, I joked and laughed, I
tried to do anything I could to help set up. Normal, even easy, this was not
work for me, this was fun. Later, my mother put it into perspective. Not
everyone can jump right in, and there are days or circumstances in which I
would not have felt comfortable doing that.
There is something about the community in Cascabel that made
me feel welcomed from the moment I arrived. Cascabel is a funky little nugget
of a community. Peoples’ backgrounds are varied, political and social
viewpoints are diverse, and yet, everyone still participates in this
intentional community. Community members have their own space, their own homes
and acreage, but they share a vein of thought. Simplistic living, low impact on
the environment, little technology, and lots of space to breathe. After
entering their space a few times, it’s starting to sink into me. As the world
changes all around the idea of having time, the idea of having space away is intriguing,
alluring, exciting. For me, it is unknown, and it may be an idea worth
exploring.
